Again it was a different time. 2002ish (probably earlier cause I remember hearing about HBKs return and thinking "man its not the same, I wont watch") is when a ton of people stopped watching wrestling. Back then nobody knew about any alternatives. So if I stopped watching, why would I check out NJPW in 2006? Not on my radar. To me wrestling was dead post attitude era and I didnt know there was anything else out there. In 2016 all this stuff is way more accessible, and more available. For me and many others, we got back into wrasslin the last few years, and we are seeing the alternatives are out there and they are better. In the mid 2000s I remember catching some ROH PPVS on some illegal satellite shyt, and that was incredible stuff. But that was it, couldnt really find anything online so I couldnt follow it. Just a different time man.
Now if you look at how Lucha Underground is blowing up, its clear that people want that alternative and are willing to seek it out. Nobody has El Rey, yet mad people watch LU.